The long awaited event.....

Since I am leaving for Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow morning with my friend, I thought that I should update my blog to tide my loyal readers over for the next two weeks (which is how long I will be in Vietnam, probably without internet). I am currently in PP and will spend the night here then set off for Vietnam in the morning. I thought that I would be able to make it all the way from the BB to Ho Chi Minh City in a day, but that’s about 12 hours of bus travel, which is not that fun.




Since my last post, I have been handling my free time well. While I feel strange that I am not putting on my sampot (the traditional Khmer skirt) and blouse, jumping on my bike and heading to school, but it is nice to have some time on my own. I spent the free time relaxing and trying to enjoy my free time but meeting with friends and making arrangements for our event (that happened yesterday, more to come on that later in the post….) For a one day event, we really had our work cut out for us. We had to arrange many things that we never really expected. For instance, because the entire event was in Khmer, we had to translate everything, which takes a long time, since we only have one translator, who is a man who works at the UME. I have been to the UME at least twice a week for the past 2 months working with the English Club, but also making sure that our program was coming along well. Working with the English Club at the university is really a pleasure. The students are really fun and it’s nice not to have to worry about teaching grammar and to engage the students in discussion without pulling it out of them. The way that the club works is that the man (Raya, who has become a close friend) copies an excerpt from the World Book on a particular subject. The students mainly ask me how to pronounce the difficult words or what they mean. We also talk about what the weeks lesson (last week was diabetes and the lesson before that was cancer). We also tend to talk about other things that have nothing to do what the photocopies from the World Book are talking about. For instance, one student asked me what it means when someone says “Nice tutu!” I asked him where he heard that, and he told me that he heard it on a TV show. I then explained how tutus are special clothes for ballet dancers and the rest of the hour was littered with tutu comments. I have also been able to increase my ties with the university, which is fun for me because working with students closer to my age on a more personal level is actually really fun. Because I am continually learning about the way that things work here, I have come up with a really great system with Raya, who is the man in charge of the English Club at the UME. We learned in training that Khmer people tend to go about things in an indirect way, which means that for Americans, it is difficult to get to the point, which is what we are after. After a few times of me not understanding the customs of programs like this, I told Raya that I won’t be upset or angry, I just need to know how things work, so please just tell me how to do it and we can get more done. It worked well and we are openly communicating, which is a good sign for events to come.



Last Saturday, we had a party at the high school for the end of term and the end of student teaching. The end of term is sort of a misleading title because all of the classes, besides grade 12, finished their term about a month ago after their tests. But grade 12 tests are a really big deal, so the end of their tests means a month long vacation, which Cambodians refer to as a “small vacation”. There are a few reasons for this vacation: end of grade 12 tests, end of practicum for teacher trainees, then Khmer New Year. Khmer New Year doesn’t start until April 14, but the students decide that they don’t want to learn, so that settles it, no class for a month. Khmer New Year is a three day affair and I will be coming back from Vietnam just in time for the occasion. There was a lot of confusion because school isn’t really officially canceled, but the students don’t come. In America, when school is canceled or we have a holiday, everyone knows months in advance. In Cambodia, I was supposed to hop on my bike and head to school to see if the students came. If a decent amount come, then we have class. But if not, then no class. I decided against this, because it just seems so wasteful and told my coteacher that I wouldn’t be there. I texted my favorite student, Vida, and asked him if we had class (the teacher asking the student if there is class???) and he said that he went to school on Monday and he was the only one there, so he wouldn’t be coming to school. I knew that if Vida, the most determined and hardest working kid that I have ever met is not coming to school, then chances don’t look too good for the rest of them.



On the home front, I have started teaching my host brother and his girlfriend English every night in our kitchen. It was really cute because one night at dinner, Huck asked me if I had some free time at night from 5:00-6:00 to teach him and his girlfriend, Navy. Between regular classes and English Club, I am really busy, but I knew that he probably worked up the courage after months of being too shy, so of course I said yes. It’s funny because when I walk into the kitchen from my room at 5:00, they both address me as they would a teacher and Huck has accidentally called me “cher” a few times, at which point I told him to call me Kealan, always, no need for the “cher” title. They are good students and I can see how much they are improving already. Navy is very shy, but that is not rare in this culture, but she is getting much braver and has even put Huck in his place a few times. As for the rest of the family, Chun Lai is still the cutest kid in the world and Chun Liap, his little sister, is still in Takeo province, which is where we had training and is about eight hours from the BB. I asked when she would be back and they said when the dry season harvest ends, in about 3 months. This made me extremely sad because she is staying with her great aunt and will not see her mother, brother or father for about 6 months, and she’s only a year and a half old. Huck told me that this happens because “she’s sick and she falls down a lot and her mom can’t work when she is there.” I’m pretty sure that she has Down’s Syndrome but children aren’t really tested for those things here. She is such an angel and I really miss her, but I feel awful that she is not with her family, but then again, these are things that I don’t understand, so I can’t pass judgment because I have no idea what is really happening.

End of the event happiness picture to show what strong women we are: Cher and students (from left to right)- Kimny, Sothea, Sophy, Sony and Charkiya

As for International Women’s Day, I have given a pretty detailed description of the events leading up to it, but I failed to describe how I chose the 6 females from Net Yong High School (my school). Each volunteer did it differently, but I decided that I wanted to choose the students who have shown leadership in class or around school. Brave girls who aren’t afraid to speak their minds and let their voices be heard. I also knew, because of the nature of Khmer girls, that they would feel much more comfortable if they came with a friend or someone that they knew beforehand. We split them all up and they were essentially forced to make connections throughout the province, but for their immediate comfort and simply to get them there the day of, I chose three sets of two friends. The first two girls were from my grade 11B class, Chakriya and Reaksmey. I have blogged about them before- Chakriya is a little pistol that is not afraid to speak her mind and Reaksemey is my host cousin’s daughter (the one from the funeral festival). They both are really smart and because they are in such a high class (11B), I know that they will be going to university and because they have a little money, they have a much better chance of success (sad, but true, it’s the same in America….) The reason that I like them so much is because when I stopped teaching their class, Chakriya apologized for the whole class and tried to get me to come back, that’s really brave. Reaksemey is the “cleverest” female in the class and is not afraid to put any of the boys in place. The next two girls, Kimny and Sony, are from my 11D class and English Club. When I first came, they were extremely shy and although they sit front and center in class, they never spoke. Well now, that is NOT the case; they are the first to volunteer to read or write their answers on the board. In English Club, they are the most consistent students and really are determined. They are the daughters of farmers and while I know that they don’t have a lot of money, they aren’t the poorest of my students. The last two girls, Sophy and Sothea, live at the orphanage that we visit a lot. It’s misleading because a lot of children who live at orphanages actually have parents who are alive, but their parents simply cannot afford to pay for them and they have a much better chance at success if they stay at an orphanage. They are the sweetest girls and although I don’t teach them, I have been able to get to know them around school and through the orphanage. I chose them because they have the odds against them. I know that not many people express their faith in them because their parents aren’t really their main caretakers anymore. Darlene and I went to their orphanage to deliver invitations that were written by the UME and stamped by the Provincial Office of Education in Battambang, and therefore were super official. They don’t have cell phones, so Darlene and I headed out there on Sunday and delivered the invitations to the girls. Sothea was at the market, but Sophy was shocked that I was inviting her and she must have reread the invitation 15 times. She was so happy and I know that she is really nervous about it, but they both are really independent. On top of all the regular obligations of a Khmer teenage girl, they also have to look after the younger kids at the orphanage and there are a lot of them. But they provide the affection and love that those kids don’t really get from anywhere else. They are two of the happiest and sweetest girls that I have met and I really want to let them know that I believe in them, and I think that this was a good venue for that.

My students working on their public speaking project (from left to right) Sothea, Sony, Kimny and Sophy

So, let’s get to the point- celebrating International Women’s Day. The day started like most of mine here, with a 6:00 wake up call. I made a little oatmeal and a lot of coffee then set off for the UME. I knew that there would be a lot of “day off issues” but I really underestimated those issues. It was a mad house because my daily tasks included being the leader of the group leaders as well as teacher and the other various tasks that are included with setting up an event like this. It took us a while to get going, but once we did, oh man, it was non-stop until the end. I was talking to the group leaders as my students started calling me saying, “cher, where are you? We are at the high school!” After we checked the students in, we separated all of them into 6 groups and since there were 6 students from each school, that means that they were all separated. I don’t think they liked that initially, but soon enough, they were best friends with their groups, which was the goal (to make friends across the province of Battambang), which was accomplished within the first few minutes. Each group was led by 2 students from the UME and one student from the teacher trainee school that Darlene teaches at. I cannot tell you how impressive these group leaders were. It is in their nature to be shy and nervous, but they were so brave and initiated conversation and that rubbed off on the high school students, which made the event a success. Of course there were bumps in the road, but the main goals were achieved:

• For the high school and university students to meet and make connections

• To hear from 5 successful women about how to become successful

• To improve confidence by instilling the idea that success is possible, no matter your background

Cher with the students and Chakriya this time...

The first speaker was a woman who works for a computer ngo and talked about her recent trip to America. She talked about how leaning English was so important for her because technology is moving so fast and is such a great asset to one’s career, which pleased all of us volunteer teachers. She was totally right in what she said, though: knowing how to operate a computer and the internet opens to many doors. She went to high school in Battambang and talked about being raised here. The second speaker was a bank teller from ANZ bank. She was a really short speaker, but she also speaks English and graduated from the UME. Working in a bank is a really great job, so that was inspirational. We broke for about 15 minutes and came back together. We then had our first (and only, it turned out) break-out session. We had the groups each make a list of their goals, but they also made a list of challenges standing in their way of those goals. For instance, a goal can be that the student wants to be a doctor. But the challenge is that medical school is expensive and the best ones are in PP, which is really far. We were scared that a half hour wouldn’t be enough time, but the students were really thorough, almost too thorough. We ended up cutting down the presentation time. We ate lunch together and it was so tasty. One of the teachers at my school also owns a restaurant. We bought lunch for everyone- rice and pork with mango salad and some drinks. I was so proud of my students because two of them, Kimny and Sony, were sitting with other girls and when I asked how they were doing, Kimny said that she has a new friend and they both giggled. I was impressed to see that my students were all pretty spread out, talking to students from different schools. That is a really big step for them and I was really proud because I know that when I go places where I feel uncomfortable here, I tend to stick to the people that I know well. After lunch, we listened to a nurse from Emergency speak. There were three other nurses that came with her. Emergency is an Italian ngo that trains Khmer doctors and nurses and they provide free services to Cambodians. While they used to mainly provide services to landmine victims, most of the patients are motorcycle and bicycle accident victims. The next speaker was a professor from the UME. This is where the timing gets a little messed up… Everyone was really interested in hearing from the speaker from the US Embassy, so we decided against the second break out session so that the girls had more time to speak to the speakers. The last speaker was a woman from the Embassy. She was such a good one because she talked about how she didn’t like school and was never good at it, but she really loved English and was really good at it. She used to be an English teacher, but then she took the exam and passed and now works for the US Embassy. One of my students, Sothea (who is from the orphanage) asked her to talk about her schooling because she is not so good at school, but loves English too. I was so proud of how brave she was. It was a big deal to have the Embassy speaker there and Sothea worked up the courage to ask her something in front of 80 other people. I cannot even imagine what it’s like to have a kid because I was so proud of my girls. It may not seem like much, but I have had the pleasure of seeing them gain confidence over the course of the year, but to see them thrive at a workshop with these guests was probably the highlight of my service so far. I could see the wheels spinning because at first, they thought that they were unworthy and therefore were scared. Then after they heard these stories from women who were just like them, it was truly amazing. There were three women who work for Peace Corps Cambodia (Tharoth, Markara and Serak) and they each spoke for a few minutes about university, volunteering and applying for a job. It was a nice segment to have some insight into some professional aspects.

The whole group at the end of the day!

We ended the first section of the event with an exit survey and then gave each girl a t-shirt. We had a few ideas in mind and since we didn’t have a lot of funding, the t-shirts are the most straight forward shirts that I have ever seen but they are perfect. On the front it says “International Women’s Day Battambang 2010” and on the back is says “In Collaboration: Peace Corps Cambodia, POE Battambang, UME and the US Embassy” in blue writing, no logos, no frills. Straight to the point. I guess you get what you pay for ($3 per shirt). But the fact that they each have a shirt now to remember the day is pretty great.

All the UME, RTTC and high school girls listening to a speaker

The second part of the day was a segment on public speaking. The point of the event was to discuss these huge issues, but we proposed an idea to the girls: what will you do now? We broke into groups with our high schools and began talking about what our next steps are. The idea, essentially, is that they have this information from each other and the speakers and they need to share it with their family, friends and community. We will now work on a presentation to be made at Net Yong to tell everyone what was discussed. When I told the girls that this segment was part of the event, they were so nervous and scared, but when we talked about it during the workshop, they seemed a little more confident and didn’t flat out refuse to do it like they did before. The timing is pretty bad because school is not in session, but we will work on this to tell the other girls about it.



Overall, the day was a success, but there were a few lessons that I will carry over. First, an all day affair means only one shower that day, as opposed to the usual three or four, and in 100 degree heat and 80 people, the smell is not so great. Second, it pays to have a Khmer counterpart to be your partner throughout the whole process. This is twofold: things can be done better when there is one person with ideas and one that can make it happen. The second is that it’s always nice to have a translator at hand to help. We kept grabbing the same UME girl, who is amazing at English, but she was a group leader and kept having to leave. Another lesson learned was that when someone says that they will come, it doesn’t always hold true. There were many people that we went through a process to invite but didn’t even come, which will happen. The most important rule that will continue to pop up for the next 16 months (which is how much longer I have here…) is that the most important rule of Peace Corps is to roll with the punches. Nothing will be perfect. The two and a half months of preparation and headache and stress is worth it just to see your once shy, self-conscious student stand up, take the microphone and read aloud her answer about why women’s rights are important. I will do it again in a heartbeat because doing this is worth it for the girls. I just wish that you all could have seen it, it has been one of the most amazing things that I have ever witnessed. It’s not over yet, though, and I cannot wait to see how far these girls go now that (hopefully) this seed is planted. It will be so great to watch them transition into the next phase of their lives and I just hope to be a part of it.



I got a ride into PP with Peace Corps today, which saves me $5, which is about 4 meals at my lunch place. Jac and I today then heading into Vietnam tomorrow. I ended my first part of my PC service on a really tiring, but positive note. I will probably end up sleeping for the entire 33 hour train ride to Hanoi.



Happy Easter (tied as my favorite holiday with Thanksgiving). I don’t want to sound preachy, but we have a lot to be thankful for and it’s nice to remember that every once in a while. But it’s more important to reach out, even just a little. It doesn’t take money or things. A little faith in someone can go a long way. I thought of all of those people in my life that have helped me to get to where I am today, all my family, friends, coaches, teammates, etc simply by expressing their faith in me, obviously my parents and siblings are at the top of this list. We are always told that we can reach our goals by believing in ourselves, but sometimes someone else believing in you is the spark that is needed. I was lucky to have encouragement all my life and I never realized how far it can go until this event. I have always agreed with Peace Corps ideals and values, but one of the most important aspects of the human resource that PC offers is human emotion. I saw that in my covolunteers at the event and in the students that were there. It’s so easy to get down on all the difficulties and the things that may never change because at the end of my service, I may never know the fruits of my labor. But a little glimmer of hope is sometimes all it takes to keep me going. I’m leaving Cambodia today with a really “s’bai jet”, as they would say in Khmer to mean having a “happy heart”. I always thought that was a silly expression, but I think that it applies perfectly here.